There for you
by SilverSpiritWolf
Summary: When Alexis finds her self overwhelmed and in need of a friend will she be able to find someone who will be there for her and a person she can be there for? Take place after 6x13 and goes AU from there. F/F
1. Prologue

Kelly sighed heavily as she looked down at the stew she was making. She had a lot on her mind and really wished she didn't have to make dinner tonight, she had something very important to discuss with her parents and really wanted more time to think and prepare, not slave over a hot stove. Bringing the spoon up to her mouth she took a small taste and found herself happy with the way the flavors had come together. Homemade stew was one of her parent's most favorite meals, she hoped and prayed that it would put her parents in a really good mood for what it was she had to say to them.

She had grown up in a pretty religious family; they went to church every Sunday and on Wednesdays, and had multiple copies of the bible around the house. At a fairly young age she found herself not exactly agreeing with everything that was being said in church and by her parents, but like a good girl she kept her mouth shut and her opinions to herself. By time she reached middle school she discovered something about herself that really set herself a part of her parents and their views. She couldn't seem to be attracted to boys; it was always the girls at school who had caught her eye. Now was the time to let her parents know.

For months she had talked to close friends about what she was going to do, no one thought it was a smart idea. Her parents were what were known around the school as "bible thumpers", people who took their religion strongly to heart. Even with the constant badgering from her friends that she just keep her mouth shut, she knew she should discuss this with them. I mean she was their daughter after all; they would still love her even though she wasn't a heterosexual…right?

The sound of her parents entering the front door brought her out of her thoughts. Shaking her head to get any of the lingering fog to dissipate, she would need a clear head tonight. She smiled brightly at her parents and informed them that dinner would be ready shortly.

Kelly sighed in relief as she listened to her parents converse about their day while she finished cooking, it sounded like both were already in a good mood. She quickly set the table while her parents went to wash up. A few short minutes later the stew as well as the homemade biscuits were done, and they were all eating. Like most nights dinner was fairly quiet, with only an odd comment here or there to break the silence.

Once everyone was done eating Kelly quickly started gathering up the dishes, telling her parents that she would do the dishes. Her mother smiled at her, patted her on the head and kissed her check. "That's my good baby girl." Her mother mumbled before making her way to the living room.

As Kelly set about doing the dishes she constantly repeated to herself, "just do it, just say it and get it done with it will all be alright." She smiled slight to herself and her own little pep talk, it was all going to be ok she knew it.

After putting the last dish away she made her way to the living room to find her parents half watching a cooking show on the food network. '_Good'_ she thought to herself _'it's not one of their favorite shows so they won't mind if I interrupt them' _Taking a deep breath she walked out to the middle of the living room ready to do what she had planned on doing for months.

"Mommy, Daddy, can I talk to you?" She asked standing slightly to the side of the television, giving her father the ability to mute the thing or to possibly turn it off.

"What is it baby girl?" Her mother asked.

"I know you guys won't like hearing this, but I know I should tell you regardless." She took another deep breath to steady her nerves. "Mom, Dad…I'm gay."

She regretted her confession the instant it left her mouth. She barely had the chance to register the shocked look on her mother face before her father was up and out of his chair, the back of his hand connecting with her left check with a sharp slap.

Tears filled her eyes as the pain shot through her head. "You're what?!" Her father roared.

"I'm gay." She said again fighting to keep the tears out of her voice. It went downhill from there.

The look of pure hatred and disgust on her father's face scared her to no end. His hand connected with the side of her face again, the pain making her dizzy for a moment as she cried out. "You little whore!" Her father hissed in her face.

Whore? How could she possibly be a whore she hadn't done anything with anyone one. She cried out loudly when his hand connected with the side of her face once again. "Daddy I'm sorry." She cried.

It was another thing she almost instantly regretted saying. His eyes burned with even more hatred and disgust "There is no way Satan's whore can be MY daughter!" He screamed, striking her yet again, the pain so dizzying it brought her to her knees. "I will make him leave you! This is the devils doing and I shall make him leave you!" The assault didn't stop there. When she attempted to apologize again he lashed out with a swift kick to her ribs.

She could hear the loud snap of her ribs breaking as his foot made contact with her side again. She glanced up to her mother, hoping, praying she would intervene, only to find her with a bible in her hands reciting different verses, her eyes filled with as much disgust and hatred at her husbands. Her friends were right; she should have kept her mouth shut.

She didn't remember much after the third kick, simple found herself laying on the living room floor a broken heap. It hurt to move, it hurt to breath, hell it even hurt to think. Her parents had gone to bed and left her laying there only the floor, unable to even crawl to the phone for help. She wanted to cry, cry out in pain, cry out for help, to just simple cry but even that was too much for her.

The sounds of sirens and a fierce pounding on the door was the last thing she heard before her eyes slipped closed and her brain started shutting itself down. This was it, the end, no more. Why hadn't she just kept her mouth shut?

**A/N: Currently editing chapter 1 so it should be up really soon. I want people to be aware now this will NOT be a Caskett (Castle and Beckett) story. This is mainly an Alexis story, while Castle and Beckett will be in this story; it mainly focuses on Alexis and an OC. Now would be the best time for you to stop if you do not wish to read a story that is centered on her. Thanks for reading, if you liked it please review. **


	2. 01 From Sadness to Joy and Back Again

Zero could hear the soft sob of someone crying around the corner. The normally quiet library just seemed to intensify the sound. Poking her head around the corner, she found the source of the crying. Sitting on the floor up against the Russian literature was a red haired girl, she recognized her from around the campus it was Alexis Castle. Stepping back for a moment she watched as people openly avoided the section that Alexis was sitting in. Poor girl probably just needed some comfort and people were running away from her like she had the plague.

Sighing to herself, she made her way over to the girl's side. "Are you ok?" She asked kneeling down beside the red head.

Alexis jumped, obviously thinking that her crying would keep everyone away. "Yeah I'm fine." She nearly snapped. Zero couldn't help but chuckle to herself, this girl was very obviously upset about something but was trying to keep everyone away. She had a tough girl air about her, a _I can do this alone I don't need you _attitude.

"I can see that." Zero laughed pushing a strand of chocolate brown hair behind her ear; ignoring the glare she was receiving from the red head and plopped down next to her. "You know it is ok to be upset sometimes." She offered

"You don't even know what's going on." Alexis sighed, running her fingers through her scarlet red hair.

"You are absolutely right, I have no idea what is going on in your life, but it doesn't make what I said any less true. It's ok to be upset or sad or even angry and it is ok to let people see you like this, it doesn't make you weak or any less of a person."

Alexis blushed slightly and looked away from the other girl, before she knew what was happening she was telling a total stranger everything. About her relationship with her now ex-boyfriend Pi, about her father the famous mystery writer Richard Castle and how he never liked Pi and how he treated her when she made her decisions with her relationship. Before either girl had realized it Alexis had been sitting and talking for over an hour.

"Oh I am so sorry." Alexis said with a blush.

"What for?" Zero asked cocking her head curiously, unsure what the other woman had to be embarrassed about.

"I just sat here with a total stranger and had a complete emotional breakdown. I am so sorry."

Zero couldn't help the loud laugh that escaped her mouth even though they were still in the library. "My name is Zero Michales, and it's quite alright really, remember I am the one who sat down first."

"I'm Alexis Castle." Alexis said stretching out her hand in introduction.

Zero smiled brightly as she grabbed the other woman's hand. "I know who you are; I've seen you around the school."

They sat and talked for a long while longer, passing back and forth little tidbits of information about themselves and finding themselves giggling quite frequently. The librarian came by a several times and told them to keep it quiet. They would sober up for a moment before looking at each other and giggling once again. Neither one brought up that they should probably move the conversation outside of the library.

"Wow I can't believe we've been sitting here talking for over four hours." Alexis said glancing at her watch.

"Time flies when you're having fun." Zero giggled slightly, more to herself than anyone else.

"I still have a paper due tomorrow." Alexis groaned as she started to gather her things. She looked down at Zero who looked slightly disappointed. "This was fun though; maybe we can do it again sometime?"

"Sure." Zero said digging into her bag for a pen and piece of paper. She scribbled down her cell number and handed the paper over to Alexis. "Call me any time you want, even if you just need someone to talk to."

Alexis smiled brightly and thanked Zero for talking with her. As Alexis turned to leave Zero couldn't help but think how screwed she was. She had sat and talked with Alexis for only a few short hours and she was totally in love with her already. She knew things weren't going to end well for her, Alexis wasn't gay. She knew she was going to end up with a broken heart.

She hadn't expected Alexis to call her the next day. She figured that the red head was just being nice by taking her number, but she actually called. They went to lunch together and then ended up spending the whole afternoon lounging around in a park talking.

Alexis called again the next day, and the day after, and again the following day. Before Zero knew it she was hanging out with Alexis every day. Some days they did very little talking, just hung out at the library getting homework done, others days they spent all day talking. Alexis was quickly becoming the first and only person to know so much about her. She told Alexis everything…well almost everything. There were just a few things she knew she couldn't tell Alexis.

She knew she couldn't tell Alexis that she was deeply in love with her. Some days she felt her heart break when Alexis would flirt with a guy or whisper to Zero how cute she thought a guy was that was a few booths away from them when they ate. She would smile with Alexis and whisper back just as enthusiastically (or so she hoped) that she agreed that the guy was a major hottie.

In the blink of an eye 6 months had gone by. There wasn't a day in that 6 month period that she wasn't hanging out with Alexis, well except for a few ago when Alexis attended her father's wedding. Alexis had wanted Zero to go with her, but she had managed to get out of it by saying it was Alexis' father's wedding and would be weird if Alexis showed up with her. But even though they didn't see each other that day they did spend hours on the phone afterwards talking about everything and nothing in particular.

"You what?" Zero asked as Alexis sat down acrossed from her at the diner they were getting lunch at today.

"I want you to come over for a family dinner tonight." Alexis repeated simply.

"Ah Lex I dunno, I don't want to intrude." Zero picked up the burger she had ordered and took a big bite out of it.

"I am inviting you Z, how is that intruding? Besides my dad wants to meet you."

"He does?" She asked behind a mouthful of food.

"Yeah." Alexis started taking a bite of the chicken she had ordered. "He wants to meet the friend that I always talk about when I visit him."

"You talk about me?" Zero could feel herself blush slightly.

"Of course I do," Alexis gave her thousand watt smile. "You're my BEST friend."

Zero felt her heart sink a little at the words '_best friend'. _Why in the world did she even allow herself to get her hopes up even slightly that Alexis would talk about her in any other fashion?

Zero sighed heavily "Yeah of course I will have dinner with you guys."

Zero found herself in the elevator on her way up to Richard Castle's apartment. Alexis had to turn in a paper shortly after lunch and had another class to attend in the evening, so she had text Zero the location and told her to be there at 7, she would meet her there. She was now 15 minutes early.

Zero was nervous. Beyond nervous really, she didn't get along with parents very well and now she was going to meet her best friend's father and step-mother. Exiting the elevator she made her way down the hall and to the apartment in the text message. Taking a deep breath she knocked firmly and simply waited. She didn't have to wait long before the door was opened by a slightly older looking woman. It had to have been Alexis' step-mother Kate.

"You must be Zero." Kate said with a smile as she opened the door wider to allow the younger woman in. "Alexis isn't here yet but please come in."

Zero really didn't want too, not without Alexis there with her. Part of her wanted to say that she would wait in the hall for Alexis, but she knew that was incredibly rude, and stepped inside. The apartment was beautiful; you could easily tell that money was a small thing to the owner. Expensive paintings dotted the walls and expensive furniture was set up throughout the living space. Zero followed Kate into the kitchen where Richard stood at the oven making a sauce which she assumed was for a pasta dish.

"Do you like pasta?" Richard asked over his shoulder, giving the sauce another good stir before turning around.

"Umm yes sir I do." Zero said with a nod.

"Oh you hear that Kate? She called me sir, such manners." He boasted, puffing out his chest.

"Oh geez Castle, don't let manners throw your ego out of whack." Kate said jokingly to her husband.

Zero cocked her head to the side at hearing Kate call her husband by his last name, the last name they now both share. She figured it had something to do with them working together. Alexis had told her how her father and step-mother met, how he had shadowed her for over 4 years before they started a romantic relationship. She shrugged it off as something that was pure habit for the detective.

The three fell into small talk while Castle finished making dinner. They both asked Zero a few questions that they already had the answers to from Alexis, but thought to be polite just the same. A few minutes after 7:00 the front door opened to reveal Alexis shuffling inside the apartment. Zero couldn't stop the broad smile that acrossed her face upon seeing her friend.

Dinner ended up going really well. Zero sat quietly for the most part and just listened to the family talk about their day. She found herself frequently giggling at Castle's antics, and both Kate and Alexis apologized more than once that he was as they had put it a "9 year old on a sugar rush." For some strange reason that statement made Zero laugh so hard she actually felt a tear trickle down her face. She wished her family could have been like this.

After dinner was done and the table was cleared it was decided that they were going to watch a movie. Zero sat at the counter and watched as father and daughter argued over which movie to watch. Zero loved seeing Alexis like this, all bright smiles and joy, no trace of the sad girl she had first met. She realized she must have been smiling too much when she caught Kate watching her, watching Alexis. She strolled over to her, a look in her eye as if she had just figured something out.

"You're in love with Alexis aren't you?" Kate asked softly.

"I a…I have no idea what you are talking about." Zero said tripping over her words. She could feel the heat of embarrassment as it crept over her face.

Kate smiled brightly at Zero's fumbling. "Have you told her yet?" Kate asked refusing to accept Zero's denial.

"I should probably go." Zero said suddenly standing and grabbing her bag from where she had placed it on the countertop.

"No don't go." Kate said softly, reaching out her hand for Zero's arm. Zero jumped away from Kate's reach, there was obvious fear in the younger woman's eyes. "Look I won't say anything." She tried again.

Zero shook her head frantically and pulled back. "I…I really need to go."

"Please don't Zero, I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you." Kate whispered. She didn't want Alexis thinking she had done something to scare her friend away.

"Kelly Rosenberg, you should have known better." Zero mumbled to herself as she continued to back away.

"Is something wrong Zero?" Alexis said, suddenly behind her.

Zero whipped around and was met with the brilliant blue eyes of her best friend. "I a…I just remembered I have a paper due in the morning that I'm not done with." Zero lied; she could tell by the look on her friend's face that she knew it was a lie. "So I am going to head home so I can get that done."

"Oh umm sure." Alexis said, Zero could tell she was disappointed.

"Thank you for dinner." Zero said as she pulled the front door open and rushed out.

"What was that about?" Castle asked the movie that he and Alexis finally agreed on clutched in his hands.

"I don't know." Kate too lied; but at least she was better at hiding it.

Deciding to not let it ruin the rest of the night, the three of them made their way to the living room to watch _The Hobbit_. Kate fiddled with her phone for a moment before shooting a text over to Ryan to see if he was still at the precinct. She only had to wait a moment for his response. Both he and Esposito were still there working on their extremely late paper work. She replied with the name Zero had mumbled and asked if they would look into it for her. She had no context behind the name, just wanted anything they could find over the past few years. They both eagerly agreed to it, anything to get out of paper work for at least a little while.

Now all she had to do was sit and wait for what they could find. She knew better than to think they would come up with anything for the night, so setting her phone aside she curled up tightly next to her husband and watched the movie with her family. Her mind was still racing with what had happened and what the boys would find.

**A/N: Ok so there is chapter 1. Not sure if this is the direction anyone thought this may go in, but there you have it. You should be able to tell by this chapter where this story line will be heading so if you don't like it stop now. Please review. Thank you.**


	3. 02 The Explanation

The sound of her cell phone buzzing woke Kate from her sleep. It was the buzz of a text message not the ringing of a phone call so she knew she didn't have a case. Groaning to herself she leaned over to her nightstand and snatched up her phone. Clicking the lock button she first glanced in the corner to see what time it was. After 9, she should probably get up anyways. Sliding her thumb over to retrieve the message she noticed it was from Ryan.

_We did quite a bit of digging and only came up with one thing that seemed of significance. I e-mailed the file to you, but Becks before you open it you really need to brace yourself it's pretty bad. I don't know what I was thinking I was going to find, but what we did find was the furthest thing from my mind. I need to go hug Sarah Grace now._

Ryan's message left her more than a little confused. Pulling the blanket away she decided to make a pot of coffee and get to work on whatever file that Ryan had e-mailed to her. Glancing down Castle for a moment she thought it best to just let him sleep for now, reading a file was a simple one person job. Besides she hadn't even told her husband about what happened last night.

After setting a pot of coffee to brew she pulled her laptop onto the counter to get it set up and ready to work. The refreshing aroma of coffee started to fill the loft as the laptop booted up. Quickly she made herself a cup before sitting down to get started on the file.

Pulling up her work e-mail she quickly navigated to the file Ryan had sent her. _A child abuse case from 5 years ago?_ Her curiosity really started to peak just seeing the virtual file on her screen. Clicking a few buttons the file opened up to reveal a beautiful teenage girl with shoulder length chocolate locks, incredible brown eyes, and a bright smile. She looked just like Zero only a few years younger, could it possibly be the same girl.

The name Kelly Rosenberg was printed next to the photo. Clicking over Kate found the police incident report. Her eyes widened with shock at what she read.

_16 year old Kelly Rosenberg announced her homosexuality to her parents on April 16, 2009. Her father Markus Rosenberg reacted with violence striking and kicking his daughter multiple times attempting to "beat the devil out of her". Neighbors altered the police to the sounds of a woman in distress. Police arrived at the location some 30 minutes after the attack to find Kelly unconscious and bleeding on the floor._

_Kelly was rushed to the Queen's Medical Center where it was discovered she suffered from multiple injuries not limited to: broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a ruptured kidney and a bruised liver. Both Markus Rosenberg and Ashley Rosenberg have been taken into custody. _

Kate flipped through the next few pages that catalogued the girls injuries, how she had flat lined 4 times while on the operating table, the repairing of internal organ, and finally her being moved into the ICU. The next several pages showed pictures of the poor girl laying on a hospital bed still unconscious with multiple machines hooked up to her. In most of the pictures you couldn't even tell it was a young girl laying on the bed, her face was swollen, her eyes black, her nose broken. She knew now why Ryan needed to go hug his daughter. How could do this to their own child?

"How long have you been up for?" Castle questioned suddenly, startling Kate and forcing her to turn away from the computer to look at him. She couldn't stop the tears that ran down her face. "Baby what's wrong?" he questioned softly, making his way over to his wife.

Kate simply shook her head. It was so horrible she wasn't sure she wanted to share it with him anymore, but she knew she had too. "You remember last night when Zero sort of freaked out and ran off?" He nodded at her, of course he did. Kate sighed and took a deep breath. "I kept noticing last night that she gave Alexis these little looks and these little smiles all through dinner. When you guys were choosing the movie she was watching Alexis and she had this smile on her face and this look in her eyes, and I just knew." Kate stopped, taking another deep breath.

"That she's in love with Alexis." Castle offered.

"You saw it too hu?"

"I have been working with you for almost 6 years; I have picked up a few things. It's not like it was hard to detect."

Kate sighed again, happy that Castle didn't seem to be upset that a woman was in love with his daughter. "I asked her about it, if she had said anything to Alexis. She freaked out that I knew and that is why she left." She confessed. Castle continued to nod; she could tell that made sense to him. He gave her a look that told her he knew she wasn't done and wished for her to continue.

"As she was gathering her things she mumbled something, I don't think she even realized she said it. She said 'Kelly Rosenberg you should have known better', just before she ran out."

"Kelly Rosenberg?" Castle asked confused.

"Yeah I didn't get it either, so I sent a message to Ryan to see if he could dig up anything on the name. He text me just a short while ago telling me he only found one thing and he sent me the file."

"Well that's great."

"No Babe it's not." Kate frowned. "It was a child abuse case from 5 years ago. Ah Castle it's really bad." Kate stopped for a moment, her hand on the laptop getting ready to turn it around to him. "She told her parents she was gay and was beaten for it. Castle they nearly killed her."

Kate turned the laptop around and allowed Castle to see the photos that were on the screen. She watched his eyes go large with shock as he clicked through a small handful of the pictures. Roughly he shoved the laptop away and bolted to the kitchen sink to vomit. "Fuck Kate that was their own daughter!"

"I know Babe, I know." She whispered softly rubbing her hand up and down his back before he rinsed out his mouth and the sink.

"She must have thought we would do the same to her upon finding out." Castle stated.

"Yeah I came to the same conclusion myself." Kate sighed, making her way back over to the laptop. "The poor girl. It says here her father was sentenced to 45 years in prison, no charges were brought up with her mother, but she did disown Kelly...Zero after the incident."

Castle sighed heavily as he leaned up against the kitchen counter, his large hand covering part of his face. "I just can't seem to wrap my mind around this."

"I know me neither. Poor Ryan said he had to go home and give Sarah Grace a hug after going through this file."

"I can imagine." Castle gave a slight dry chuckle. "It makes me want to make Alexis come over just so I can hold her in my arms, just so I know that she is alright."

Kate smiled at the man she loved at that. "I don't know what we should do Castle, it's obvious that she doesn't know about this and I am sure Zero doesn't want it known either. It has to be the reason that she changed her name."

Castle nodded. "But we are going to have to have a talk with Zero, let her know we are nothing like her parents and we would never do anything to hurt her just because she is gay. She seems like such a good kid too, at least from what Alexis has said about her and what dinner last night showed us."

"We are going to have to find a way to get in touch with her." Kate said. "It says here that she moved in with her aunt Stephanie Michales after the incident. All of her contact information is still here so maybe we can get ahold of her and find out if she has a way for us to get in touch with Zero?"

"Yeah that seems to be our best option. I don't want Alexis knowing about this so we can't exactly ask her for the information." Castle said as he made his way over to his wife. He took one final look at the file on her screen before closing the laptop; there was no way he could look at that any more. "That bastard should have gotten more than 45 years for what he did to her." He growled. Kate couldn't agree more.

**A/N: I realize this is a short chapter but I knew this needed to be done. A longer chapter to come, one that will feature Alexis I promise. Thanks to all of you that have either favorite this fic or are following it. Reviews too would be nice. Thanks again. See you all soon.**


	4. 03 Questions Abound

**A/N: Sorry this took so long for me to update. I just started a new job and that kinda took over my life lol. Hope this was worth the wait.**

Why wasn't she answering? It had been 3 days since her family dinner and Alexis was unable to get ahold of Zero. She had text Zero as soon as she got home after the movie and received no response. She had almost figured as much since Zero had said she had a paper due, but she was disappointed to awaken the next morning to still find no reply from her friend. She sent off another message asking her if she was feeling alright, if she had gotten her paper done, and could they meet up for lunch.

When lunch time rolled around and she still had not heard from Zero, worry started to set in. This was not like Zero, she always replied to Alexis' messages. She understood that Zero had her own classes to attend she had her own as well, and there were times when both girls were incredibly busy but there had never been a day that she didn't at the very least receive a few texts from Zero.

As one day turned into two and two into three, she couldn't help but think she had done something wrong. Was Zero mad at her? She could tell that Zero hadn't really wanted to go to that dinner with her family but she didn't think it would have upset her this much. Plus she seemed like she enjoyed her time spent with the Castle family.

Frowning to herself as she ran her fingers through her scarlet hair in frustration she tried to think where things could have gone wrong, what could have happened to possibly upset Zero and make it so she refused to talk to her.

She had been told that Zero was at the loft maybe 10 minutes before she got there, so she knew there was no way it could have been then. Her dad knew how much Zero meant to her so he knew better than to do anything overly stupid, and Kate, well her step-mother was the more sensible one of the two so she knew it was a no go there.

She sighed heavily and ran every little detail through her mind. She and Zero set the table together, laughing at some stupid thing her father had done. They sat next to each other when dinner was served. She had made sure her dad had made one of his best pasta dishes because she knew pasta was Zero's favorite. Dinner was light and full of happy conversation. She had told her dad several times before the dinner that he was NOT allowed to talk about murder at the dinner table.

She had watched as Zero had laughed right along with her family, and it wasn't her _I am slightly amused _chuckle that mostly escaped from Zero's mouth but her rich, beautiful, intoxicating, contagious laugh. It was a laugh Alexis heard so rarely that it filled her with an almost intense desire to hear it again and again.

During dinner she watched as a brief something flashed acrossed Zero's copper brown eyes. She hadn't really been able to place what it was during dinner, it was there one moment and gone nearly a split second later. She didn't know a whole hell of a lot about Zero's family only that she never got along with her parents, Alexis knew now that what she saw in Zero's eyes was a desire to have a family like hers.

But even that couldn't be enough for Zero to want to stop talking to her was it? She by no means was trying to rub her family into Zero's face; she just wanted her friend to have a fun family night with Alexis. She had discovered recently that most things she did was for Zero.

She sighed heavily again as her frustration continued to mount. She couldn't think of anything that would make Zero suddenly decide to stop talking to her. Alexis wanted to scream her frustration to whomever would listen, and that was usually Zero. That thought didn't help her any.

Standing from where she had been perched on the edge of her bed she stormed into her kitchen for some water. She still lived in the apartment she and Pi had rented, even though he was no longer there. It had been weird for her at first, and making enough money to pay the damn rent had been really hard on her but now things were fine. Her dad had almost begged for her to come back to the loft but the weirdness of that situation was worse than her current one.

She had used the excuse of her lease to try to let her dad down gently, she was not moving back home. He of course retaliated with being able to afford the cost of her breaking her lease. Kate had met her at a dinner secretly to talk to her about the whole thing. She had asked if she was the reason that Alexis didn't want to move back home. Alexis laughed and told her that wasn't the reason. Well it wasn't the whole reason, she did truly enjoy being on her own.

After a long talk with her father's than fiancée, she agreed to allow her dad to help her with her rent until she found a most stable form of an income than tutoring. She knew she had to find something that wouldn't drive her totally insane. Her dad seemed disappointed that she hadn't moved back home, but seemed satisfied that she was willing to let him help her out.

Flinging open the refrigerator door, she leaned in to grab a bottle of water from the middle shelf. Huffing out her frustration she slammed the fridge door closed and leaned against the counter as she started to down the ice cool liquid. Her mind continued to wander to her current situation.

She remembered how after dinner her dad had suggested that they watch a movie together. She was totally game for that, it had been a while since she had seen any of the newer movies and she knew her dad had them all. She raced her dad over to the shelves of DVDs and proceeded to argue with him over which movie to watch. She knew in the end she would win and they would watch the movie she wanted to watch, I mean come on who doesn't want to watch The Hobbit?

She remembered turning her attention back to Zero who was watching her from over at the counter. She knew Zero watched her sometime, how could she not? She could always tell when those intense copper eyes settled on her for longer then watch was considered sociably acceptable for a passing glance. She wasn't sure why but she found herself liking the fact that Zero would watch her. Whenever some random person did it she found it creepy, but when Zero's eyes settled on her she found herself intrigued.

She turned to see Zero and Kate having a conversation. Zero had seemed almost a little freaked out by whatever she and Kate were talking about. Was that it? Was whatever Kate had said to her been the reason Zero stopped talking to her?

Alexis shook her head and filled her now empty water bottle at the sink faucet. No Kate was not a cruel person she wouldn't try to scare Zero away. Damn it what was the reason? Downing half the bottle of water again she played the scene over again in her mind.

She had been on the other side of the room when Kate had made her way over to Zero. When she turned around, her DVD choice being the winner, she noticed that Kate and Zero were already in conversation. She couldn't hear what was being said but she could see what could only be classified as fear and panic consume her friend's features. Kate herself had a worried look on her face and it almost looked like she was trying to apologize to Zero for something.

By time she made her way to the counter her friend had already gathered up her bag in her hand and was backing away from Kate. She had reached out a hand to touch her friend on the shoulder, telling her she was behind her and if she kept backing up she was going to run her over. Zero jumped and spun around, coming face to face with Alexis.

Alexis couldn't help but noticed the normally beautiful copper brown of her friends eyes seemed to be dull and almost grey. She heard as some random excuse tumbled out of Zero's mouth, in a tumbled heap of an obvious lie. Before she darted for the door and ran out into the night.

"What was that all about?" She remembered her dad asking.

"No clue." Kate replied.

Alexis groaned at herself. She should have known that was a lie, how could she not have figured it out. The trio made their way into the living room to settle on the couch. Alexis had such an extremely intense desire to run after her friend, to find out what had gone wrong, but she didn't. Her brain had told her to give her friend a little bit of time and space; it was obvious that she needed it. Her heart screamed at her to follow and make sure she was alright.

Why they hell did she listen to her heart?

She watched as Kate picked up her phone and fired off a text, a brief moment later it buzzed its reply. At that time of night it had to be the boys she was texting. Again she watched as Kate fired off another, yet slightly longer text before setting her phone aside and cuddling up with her husband.

Damn it, Kate knew something, Alexis was sure of it now. She had to find out what Kate had said to chase off her best friend.

Alexis glanced at her watch. She wasn't sure if Kate had the day off or if not if she would be home from the precinct yet. Screw it, she would sit at the loft and wait for her step-mother to return home if that meant she would be able to fix whatever had happened with Zero. Slipping on her shoes and grabbing her bag she headed for the door, whatever had happened it had to be fixed now.

She made it to the loft in what seemed like record time. For once the gods of traffic seemed to be on her side. As she made her way up to the loft she felt herself get even antsier. Would Kate be willing to give her the answers she was after or would she be lied too again?

She opened the door to the loft to see her dad and step-mother sitting on the couch deep in conversation. The look of confusion that crossed their faces at her unannounced arrival gave her hope that her answers wouldn't be hidden.

"Alexis what are you doing here?" Castle questioned.

"I haven't heard from Zero since dinner." Alexis said bluntly. She wasn't going to tap dance around why she was there.

"Ah, yeah Sweetie we need to have a talk." Castle said. "Come sit down." He patted the couch.

There was no way this was going to be good news.

**A/N: I will attempt to get chapters up at least once a week, since I am working now. Hope you enjoyed this. Please review. Thanks.**


	5. 04 Finding the Truth

She wasn't a stupid individual, she knew conversations that started with _we need to talk usually_ never turned out well. All at once she could feel the tears forming in her eyes, stinging and blurring her vision. So what she was thinking was true, they did know something. All of a sudden she wasn't sure she wanted to know anymore.

"Come sit down." Her father said, patting the couch again.

She made her way to the couch but moved to stand in front of it, refusing to sit down. "What happened three days ago?"

"It's my fault," Kate said sadly. "or at least partially."

Alexis let her eyes fall onto Kate. The older woman looked obviously upset. "Kate what did you do?" She couldn't keep the accusing tone out of her voice. She didn't want to treat Kate horribly but she herself stated she was at least part of the reason that Zero was avoiding her.

Kate sighed heavily, running her fingers over her face as if she were gathering her thoughts. "During dinner, I couldn't help but notice things." Kate began. "The way Zero looked at you, the way she smiled, just the overall look in her eyes."

Alexis nodded, she had noticed as well, how could she not. Fact of the matter is she had noticed these things a very long time ago. She hung her head for a moment, taking a breath before looking back up at Kate, knowing she wasn't done.

"While you and your father were…discussing which movie we were going to watch I went over to talk to her." Kate visibly looked away. "I stated more then asked that she was in love with you, but I had asked if she had said anything to you yet."

Alexis could feel her eyes bulge; she had never expected Kate to be that forward with a person she had just only met. "What did she say?" Alexis questioned, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"She freaked out." Kate replied honestly. "She had this very frightened and very scared look in her eyes. I have never seen a pair of eyes turn so scared over a simple question. That is when she left."

"You had no right!" Alexis felt as her voice started to rise. "You had no right to ask her something like that!"

"I know." Kate whispered in defeat, her head hung low.

The tears she felt earlier threatened to spill out, the sting in her eyes almost too much to bear. Was she really going to lose her best friend because of a stupid statement her set-mother had made?

"It was the way she looked at you." Kate started; Alexis knew she was now defending what she had done. "Never have I seen someone look you the way she did. I have seen boys lust after you, I have seen a few that looked at you as if they loved you, but I have never, NEVER seen someone in the short span of one dinner look at one person as if that person was their entire world, and that is how she looked at you Alexis."

Alexis could no longer stop the tears from spilling out of her crystal blue eyes. She knew all of this, how could she possibly not know? For the better part of a month she had been attempting to sort out her feelings for Zero. Her affections for the other girl went above friendship a good while ago. Several times in the past recent weeks she found Zero invading her dream. The first time it had happened she woke in total shock, and had attempted to put it out of her mind as nothing but a meaningless dream, but they kept coming.

Zero was very beautiful, she couldn't deny that. The way her chocolate brown hair sat just off of her shoulders, how it would gleam and dance in low light or the setting sun. Her beautiful copper brown eyes that always shone whenever they met up, making even Alexis' worst days better somehow. And then of course there was Zero's laugh, the most beautiful sound that there was.

"Alexis I am so sorry." Kate whispered, reaching her hand out and placing it on the younger girl's arm. Alexis wanted to jerk back, or to push Kate away, but she just couldn't find it in her to do it. "There is something else I need to show you." She said pulling her laptop that was sitting on the coffee table towards her.

"You are going to show her that?" Castle question.

"Rick she has the right to know." Kate flicked on her laptop before turning her attention back to Alexis. "Have you heard the name Kelly Rosenberg?"

Alexis frowned, the tears in her eyes drying up. "No who is that."

Kate sighed again. "That night before you came over to see if everything was alright I heard Zero mutter 'Kelly Rosenberg you should know better', and to be honest I don't even think she realizes she said it." Kate typed a short something on the laptops keyboard, probably her password. "I had text Ryan that night to see if he could look into the name for me."

Alexis moved to stand by Kate. "And what did he find?"

"Something horrible." Kate said honestly, clicking through a few things on her laptop before lowering the screen to half closed. "Zero is Kelly, and 5 years ago something horrible happened to her." The look she gave Alexis told her to brace herself. Kate dealt with murders, if she was saying it was horrible it must be really bad.

Kate opened the laptop screen again and turned it to her step-daughter, the first part of the police report showing on the screen. Alexis leaned closer to the screen, her eyes dancing back and forth as she read the report. She felt her stomach drop as she continued to read, as the tears in her eyes built once again.

"Oh my god!" Alexis choked out, her hand covering her mouth in shock. She could see that there were photos attached so she leaned forward to move touch pads mouse over to them, but Kate jerked the laptop away.

"Baby girl you don't want to see these." Castle stated once he noticed what it was she was attempting to do.

"You can't show me part of this and not show me the whole thing." Alexis stated. Kate and Castle glanced at each other for a moment before Kate pushed the laptop back to Alexis.

Alexis let out an audible gasp at the first picture, unaware they got worse as they went. The tears started to flow again on the second picture and by the third or fourth she was on her knees. She attempted to glance through a few others but discovered she could not handle it. She closed the laptop herself and pushed it away.

"At least we think we discovered why she was so afraid." Kate suddenly said softly hoping to not startle the younger girl who was already in such a state. "She was probably afraid that the same thing would happen again."

"How could anyone…?" Alexis choked on a sob, unable to finish her sentence.

"We don't understand either sweetie."

Alexis looked over to her father. The wonderful man who had raised her alone since her mother decided her career was more important. The man who doted on her and spoiled her, the man who gave her everything she wanted as a child, but still managed to raise a child with a fairly good head on her shoulders. She could never see him raising his hand to her or to anyone else really, not unless it was total self-defense.

She glanced back down at the closed laptop that was now concealing so much hurt, so much pain. It did make sense to her now though, the last time an adult figure found out she was homosexual she nearly lost her life. Alexis knew her father wasn't like that, he wasn't that kind of a man, but Zero didn't know this.

Her mind was now reeling with this new information. Zero wasn't avoiding her because she was mad at her or anything, she was quite simply afraid. Now that she had that figured out her heart felt both lighter and heavier at the same time. Lighter because she knew she had the chance to get Zero to talk to her again, and heavier because no one should ever have to go through what Zero already had.

"Now I just need to find a way to get in touch with Zero." Alexis said with a sigh. "I have gone to her apartment over the past three days and she has never been at home. I haven't been able to find her at school or at any of the places we hang out together; I am almost at a total loss of how to find her."

Kate smiled at that. "Good, I can help you there." She handed Alexis a piece of paper. "This is her aunts address and phone number." She couldn't help the small chuckle at the confusion on Alexis' face.

"After what happened, it was Zero's aunt that took her in. I got in touch with her this morning and she confirmed to me that Zero had been coming back to her place since our family dinner three nights ago."

"Thank you Kate."

Kate chuckled again. "Don't thank me, I was the one who made a mess out of everything, I just had to do something to at the very least set everything back on the right tracks, it's going to be up to you to talk to her. She trusts you more than anyone she knows."

Alexis unfolded the paper in her hand and looked down at the address; she knew roughly where this was and knew she would have no real trouble finding the place. She let her eyes glance over at the phone number and knew she should probably give Zero's aunt a call first.

Whether Zero wanted it or not they were going to sit down and have a long conversation. No more secrets and no more hiding things, especially things of this caliber. Even though she still felt some lingering fear in her heart something told her things were going to work out. Smiling at her parents, she gave them a quick hug and kiss goodbye before heading off to do what she needed.

**A/N: Kinda a short chapter, but I wanted to get this done. I have the next part all set up in my head so with any luck I will have the next chapter up before my next work week starts (so hopefully within 3 days). Zero will be coming back in the next chapter, and hopefully after their upcoming conversation most questions will be answered. Thanks for the follows and reviews. Love you all! :-D**


	6. 05 Hearing Her Words

**A/N: Ok I realize this took me a hell of a lot longer to get posted then I said it was. Life suddenly decided to bitch slap me in the face and I had a lot to deal with. I hope I can get back to posting more regularly but I don't want to make any promises just in case. Things seem to have settled down but you never know.**

Alexis had everything set up and ready to go, yet she wasn't sure why she was so nervous. She had called Zero's aunt Stephanie and confirmed just like Kate had that Zero had been staying with her the past almost week. Stephanie was thrilled to hear from Alexis. She only understood part of what was going on, but was extremely excited that Alexis was attempting to patch up whatever needed to be patched up.

She knocked on the apartment door and waited, the sounds of a dog barking quickly reached her ears. As the door began to open a tan nose pushed its way through the opening, before hoping out onto the front porch. It was a beautiful rough coated collie. "Tibby, get back in here!" Alexis heard a woman say as the door was opened wider. "Oh you must be Alexis." The woman greeted warmly. She was tall like Zero was, but her hip length ebon black hair was as straight as an arrow, so unlike Zero's usually unruly chocolate mane.

"Thank you for telling me Zero was over here." She said with a nod.

"I am just happy someone is trying to help her. I don't know much of what is going on right now, but I do know she is in need of a friend." Stephanie said as she led Alexis into the apartment. She took her down the hall to a bedroom and told her to have a seat; that Zero had gone to the store and should be home shortly.

Alexis sat at the foot of the bed and glanced around the room. It was clear that the room was not set up for a college student, that it was a little bit of a throw back from when Zero had been younger. While most of her likes had stayed the same seeing as she was 16 years old when she came to live with her aunt, there were a few things around the room that were clearly from her younger childhood.

Her eyes roamed around the room, taking in everything that showcased who Zero was. Her eyes settled on two stuffed rabbits in the corner of the room. There was a pink one that wore a yellow shirt and a purple skirt, with purple ribbons on the ends of her ears. The other was blue and wore a red shirt with no pants. A smile played on Alexis' lips as she recalled the show the two rabbits were from. It was Babs and Buster Bunny from the cartoon _'Tiny Toons'_. Alexis couldn't stop the chuckle the worked its way out of her throat, she fondly recalled watching the same series with her father when she was really young.

The sound of the front door opening brought her out of her thoughts of childhood. She could hear the dog barking and a very familiar voice telling her to be quiet.

"Hush Tibby it's just me." Zero said as she made her way into the apartment, pushing her way past the ever excited dog that was always eager to see her. "Sorry girl I don't have anything for you." She stated as Tibby nosed the bag in her hand.

"Hey welcome back." Stephanie said as she stepped out of the kitchen, flinging a dish towel up to rest on her shoulder.

"Hey Steph." Zero replied casually as she started to make her way down the hallway to her room where she spent the vast majority of her time, a small bag of snacks hung loosely from her hand.

"You know I have been meaning to ask." Stephanie started, her voice halting Zero's progress down the hall, stopping her just a few feet from her room. "Not that I am complaining or anything you know I love having you here any time, but why have you suddenly come home? Did you get into a fight with Alexis?"

Zero visibly flinched at the name. "No Steph it's not like that." She said turning to her aunt, unaware that her best friend was just a few feet away in her room.

"I thought you were in love with this girl." Stephanie said as she wiped her hands on the dish towel absently. She knew a little about the girl in question, her niece talked about her often.

"Yeah and there lies the problem." She sighed leaning heavily against the wall next to her bedroom door.

"How is being in love with someone a problem?" The older woman asked, mimicking her niece's posture, leaning against the hall wall.

Zero sighed again as she ran her hands roughly through her chocolate locks. "Well she is my best friend for one, and for another it's not like that, she's not like that."

"Zero, baby girl, your acting like there is something wrong with who you are."

"There is!" Zero nearly shouted. "You know there is! I was nearly killed five years ago for being the freak of nature I am, or have you forgotten?"

Zero regretted the words almost the instant they left her mouth. She could see the way they affected her aunt, as if she had literally slapped the older woman acrossed the face. Her aunt knew better than anyone out there what she had gone through. It was her aunt that sat by her bed as she recovered and it was her aunt who accepted her into her home and had offered her a life.

"Of course I haven't forgotten. Your father is a horrible, pathetic excuse for a man." Stephanie sighed and shook her head, the conversation currently not going the way she wanted she knew she had to steer it back. "Have you talked to her? Have you told her how you felt?"

Zero shook her head and looked away. "She needed someone to be there for her not someone who fell in love at first sight. It will be best if I just disappeared."

"Best for whom? Do you honestly think things will be ok for that girl if her best friend just up and disappears on her?" Stephanie made her way over to her niece and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Do you honestly think she would think any different of you just because you have feelings for her? Have you given her the chance to see if maybe she feels the same way?"

Stephanie chuckled as Zero helplessly shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes. "I'm still not entirely sure what happened but I think before you try to pull a disappearing act, that girl deserves to hear the truth from your mouth. From what you have told me about her, she sounds like an extremely bright young girl; don't write her off just yet."

Zero sighed again and leaned forward into her aunts waiting arms. Stephanie had always been there for her, even before she lived with her. It was her aunt Stephanie she usually went to when she had any type of problem, from female troubles when her monthly cycle started, to when she started questioning herself about her own sexuality and everything in between. "Thank you Steph." Zero whispered.

She knew her aunt was right, knew she needed to talk to Alexis, but she wasn't sure how to go about it. It had been nearly a week since she had dinner with the Castle family, a week since she freaked out and ran off before they could watch the movie, a week since she has said so much as a single word to her dear friend.

She knew Alexis had a huge heart, and her ability to forgive was beyond what she had ever seen before, but would Alexis forgive her? Could she possibly accept her for who she was and forgive her for freaking out and running away? She hopped that would be the case but a large part of her was unwilling to give too much to hope.

"Your right, I need to talk to Alexis, she needs to find out the truth and to understand things. I shouldn't have run away. I'll send her a text in the morning and see if she is willing to meet me for lunch."

Stephanie broke away from her niece's embrace and smirked at her before turning on her heel and heading back down to the kitchen. _'What was with that smirk?'_ Zero thought to herself but quickly shrugged it off and turned back to her room.

It was only then that she noticed that the door to her room was slightly ajar. "Damn it Tibby did you get into my room again?" Zero asked as she pushed the door to her room open. The sight she was greeted with made her heart sink. Perched on the foot of her bed was none other than the person she had just been talking about, her best friend. "Alexis?" Zero chocked out.

"Hey."

**A/N: Ok I realize this is a short chapter and I did promise that they would get longer, I just wanted to get this part done and posted so you guys didn't think I had abandoned you all. More to come I promise. If you have a moment to spare, please review. Thanks.**


	7. 06 Talk to Me

"Hey." It was one word, one simple easy word that could mean everything or it could mean nothing. Zero felt her heart start to race, pounding heavily in her chest. Her breath quickened and she could feel the heat of embarrassment creeping its way acrossed her face. That conversation, that entire conversation she had just had with her aunt; did Alexis hear it all? Of course she did, she had to have, the door was ajar and she and her aunt had been talking right outside it.

"Alexis." She started again, trying to get herself back under control. "Umm, what are you doing here?"

It was a stupid question to ask and she knew it was, why else would she be here? The look Alexis gave her was proof enough that it was a stupid question to ask, but right at this particular moment her brain wasn't exactly functioning properly.

"I came to see you." Alexis said calmly, her baby blue eyes held a fire that her voice did not. She was angry and Zero knew it. An overly calm Alexis was never a good thing.

"I came to see you since you obviously had no problem just trying to disappear on me." The use of the word 'disappear' was proof enough that the other girl had heard the entire conversation.

"Look I know I went about this in the worst way possible but I need to talk to you." Zero sighed as she made her way over to the desk that sat at the far wall and plopped herself down in the chair.

"I know. I know it all. I know more than the conversation that was just had on the other side of that door." Alexis indicated with her hand towards the door. "I know it all Zero, or should I say Kelly."

Zero felt her jaw literally drop. She knew? How could she possibly know? "How?" Zero managed to squeak.

"Apparently in your major freak out and rush to leave, you said a name you probably didn't mean to, and you obviously didn't realize."

Zero felt her mouth go dry and tried to swallow the lump that has suddenly lodged in her throat. She opened her mouth to say something but instantly closed it when she discovered she was unable to form any words.

"It's ok Zero talk to me." Alexis whispered softly, turning on the bed to fully face her best friend.

"What's there to tell, you know the whole story." Zero jumped to her feet and started for the door. "I think it would be best if I just went now."

Alexis was quick to follow, reaching out a hand and grabbing Zero around the wrist. "Please." She started. "I want to…no I need to hear this. I need to hear it from you, in your own words. I need you to tell me what happened to you five years ago."

The soft look on Alexis' face was the only convincing Zero needed. She nodded her head and motioned for Alexis to sit back down on the bed while she took up her spot on the desk chair once again.

Zero sat for a moment in silence, trying to think of where it was she needed to start. Alexis sat and patiently waited, pushing a distracting strand of scarlet hair out of her face and allowing herself to fully focus on the girl in front of her.

"Well I guess things really started to happen back in middle school. You know that age where girls start to realize that boys aren't quite as icky as they thought they were?" Zero started allowing her copper eyes to fall on her friend who simply smiled and nodded at her.

"Several of my friends started making these lists, which boys were cute and which ones weren't. They started ranking different qualities about the boys, their eyes, hair styles, and even their butts. It was something I wasn't able to do, I never found myself looking at the boys the way the other girls did.

"After several months of my friends making these lists and me never getting involved more than a noncommittal grunt I knew I needed to talk to someone so after a while I found myself over here, ranting to my aunt about the girls and their 'stupid boy lists' and 'why couldn't we make these lists about girls?' She sat with me and talked, nodded her understanding but always with this big smile on her face.

"Again after a while I started to realize that I didn't like the boys the way the other girls did, I found myself liking the other girls in the same fashion they liked the boys." Zero smiled and shook her head at the memory. She glanced up from where she had been staring at the floor to glance over at Alexis who sat quietly, but her interest in the story never wavered.

"I remember coming over here one night when I was in 8th grade, scared out of my mind thinking that there was something wrong with me. Why was it I didn't like the boys the way the other girls did?" Zero sighed. "Stephanie was my grasp on sanity, she sat me down and explained to me that sometimes girls don't ever like boys that sometimes they liked other girls and there was nothing wrong with that. Love was a beautiful thing no matter who you loved.

"Still I kept these thoughts and feelings secret, figuring it was best if no one but me knew how I felt." She ran her thumb acrossed her bottom lip, a nervous tick she picked up years ago.

"Go on." Alexis whispered knowing Zero was almost at the turning part of her story.

"I met a girl late in my Sophomore year, her name was Rachel. We became fast friends; always hanging out, always talking on the phone, where one of us was the other was always right there with them. Even over the summer break we spent most of our time together and I found myself falling head over heels in love with her." Zero gave a half smile at the memory.

"Just before school started up again I told her how I felt, that I had fallen for her. I was so relieved that she didn't look at me in disgust. I remember her leaning in and pressing a kiss on my lips and asking me what took me so long. We started our Junior year in high school as a couple.

"Things were going great, it wasn't a relationship that we hid, everyone knew we were an item and no one treated us any different, I think they all figured it was just natural progression in our friendship seeing as we spent all our time almost literally glued at the hip. We talked things over for a while and decided we should tell our folks that we had a girlfriend, that we were lesbians. No one else thought it was a good idea, seeing as most of my friends knew my parents and knew they were pretty religious."

Zero's eyes darkened as she prepared herself for the next part of her story. "I still thought it was a good idea, I knew my parents loved me and I figured they would still be able to accept me as their daughter, to love me no matter what. I was still the same person. Rachel and I both agreed we would tell our parents the truth.

"I made homemade stew that night, it was their favorite and I knew it was the easiest way to put them in the best mood possible before I broke the news to them. My friends were right." Zero chuckled to herself. "I shouldn't have said anything, I shouldn't have told them."

"The look in their eyes as I told them the truth, told them that I was a lesbian is something I will never forget. To them it was the ultimate betrayal. The pain I felt at knowing my parents wouldn't accept me was unbearable and I didn't think anything could top that." Zero chuckled again, almost sadistically this time.

"My father slapped me acrossed the face and asked me to repeat myself. Like the idiot I was I did, I told them I was gay. I know now he was giving me a chance to change my mind, but how could I possible deny who I am?"

Zero allowed her eyes to once more fall over to her friend. Alexis' eyes were wide with fear. A part of her wanted to say she changed her mind that she didn't want to know, she didn't want Zero to have to relive this pain but she also realized this was something that needed to be done, it needed to be said.

"That amount of pain is something the human body has a hard time dealing with." She continued. "It made me dizzy, it made me sick, and it hurt so much all at the same time. I didn't think that beating would ever stop; I thought I was going to die. I vaguely remember my father saying the devil had possessed me and that he needed to beat the devil out of me. Maybe he was right? Maybe some sort of evil did take hold of me that made me deserve what happened to me."

Alexis jumped to her feet at that. "No!" She shouted sprinting over to Zero and dropping to her knees and grasping the other woman hands, tears freely falling from her crystal eyes. "No Zero, no evil took hold of you; you did NOT deserve what happened to you."

Zero glanced down at their joined hands and managed to give a small half smile before clearing her throat indicating she needed to continue. "I woke after 2 weeks in a medically induced coma, to find my aunt Stephanie by my bed side, her and only her. My father was in prison and my mother disowned me. I awoke to her talking on the phone to a friend, I heard her say that my mother had said that I was 'less than a Zero to her now'."

"So that's why you changed your name to Zero?" Alexis questioned cocking her head to the side.

Zero gave a slight chuckle, placing her friend's hands in her lap before wiping the tears from the other girl's checks. "A little sick and twisted isn't it, but that is how I felt. I was less than a Zero."

Alexis shook her head; it was obvious that she didn't agree that her friend was a Zero. "Ok what happened next? What about Rachel?"

Zero frowned. "She came by a few days after the incident with a letter; my aunt gave it to me shortly after I woke up. In the letter Rachel explained that she never had any intention on telling her parents she was gay. In fact as far as she was concerned she wasn't. Her being in a relationship with me was how did she put it?" She stopped to think a moment. "Oh that's right, 'girls just being curious' and that she thought it was best if we didn't see each other again."

"That's horrible!" Alexis shouted.

"But then again it looked like everyone felt that way. No one came to see me while I was in the hospital, no one but Stephanie. She visited me every morning before work and then spent what time she could with me after work, even popping in most days on her lunch break. She spent her days off with me as well. She would cuddle with me in that tiny hospital bed watching crappy soaps and whatever else we could find. I was in the hospital for nearly three months before they let me go home and I was happy to discover that home was now here at Stephanie's place."

Zero smiled to herself as she glanced around the room that had been hers before she went off to college. Stephanie was like one of those moms that refused to change anything about the room once the kid left, insisting that they may need it again someday. She was right about that.

"I'm so sorry." Alexis said suddenly, placing her head on her friends lap. "I'm sorry I made you live through all of that again. I'm so sorry."

The smile that had been playing on Zero's lips started to spread into a broad grin as she ran her fingers through the silky scarlet locks on her lap. "It's ok really." Zero said softly. "I should have said something to you about my past sooner. I also probably shouldn't have freaked out when your step-mom figured out that I was gay."

"You were almost killed the last time an adult knew you were gay. I can see how it was a natural reaction." Alexis gave a slight laugh.

"I'm just trying to figure out how she figured it out." Zero sighed, clearly in deep thought trying to figure it out.

"Seriously?" Alexis couldn't stop the burst of laughter that escaped her throat as she sat back and climbed back up onto the bed. "You weren't exactly secretive about it."

**A/N: Hey look at that a new chapter. I don't think I have ever uploaded this quickly. I think this is to try and make up for when I didn't upload for a while. Sorry this was kind of dialogue heavy. More to come hopefully within the next few days, although I made no promises this time lol. Please review. **


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